Pioneer Trail Wind Farm LLC v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n

FERC did not err in imposing costs on petitioners-two wind farm power companies costs for additional required upgrades to electrical power grid necessary to connect petitioners' proposed new power plants to said grid, even though said costs came about as result of mistake in calculation made by grid’s system operator. While petitioners argued that said costs should be paid by system’s operator, FERC’s decision to impose said costs on petitioners was based on substantial evidence, and record otherwise contained no evidence that petitioners had detrimentally relied upon original mistaken calculation. Ct. further observed that petitioners were always aware of potential for incurring additional costs, and that FERC was entitled to latitude when balancing competing interests of petitioners and system operator. Ct. also noted that petitioners were given options of connecting to grid at different megawatt level, paying additional costs to connect at proposed megawatt level or abandoning project to build new plant.